


致姗姗来迟的你 (To you who came too late)

by thatgirlyeojoo



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Best Friends, Gyuhao, Hey buddy I'm in love with you, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Using Mingyu's POV for the sole purpose of marvelling at Minghao's beauty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:55:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27688598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatgirlyeojoo/pseuds/thatgirlyeojoo
Summary: When the bike stops in front of him and the rider takes off his helmet, shaking his mullet hair free, Mingyu is surprised to find it's Minghao, his best friend of ten years, andfuckdoes he look so…Beautiful.For the first time in a decade, Mingyu is realising this fact about his best friend.
Relationships: Kim Mingyu/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 13
Kudos: 75
Collections: November 2020 Birthday Challenge





	致姗姗来迟的你 (To you who came too late)

**Author's Note:**

> The title is taken from [致姗姗来迟的你](https://open.spotify.com/track/4eH9ujPhZSF0HZ1c004wtb?si=bbtRyhNSQL-pDqRccr_5mA) by A Si, which Jun recommended in his [Spotify playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0K7jUFJulm9baOz90KzYSs).

The rumbling sound of the motorcycle breaks the silence of the afternoon. Mingyu turns his attention to the incoming rider─looking real cool with his denim jacket and Docs. The visor is pulled down and reflects the blinding glare of the sun. When the bike stops in front of him and the rider takes off his helmet, shaking his mullet hair free, Mingyu is surprised to find it's Minghao, his best friend of ten years, and _fuck_ does he look so… 

_Beautiful._

For the first time in a decade, Mingyu is realising this fact about his best friend.

"Uh, thanks?" Minghao says with a confused expression, although the tips of his ears are red. Only then does Mingyu realise he actually just complimented his best friend for being so beautiful out loud.

"Here," Minghao says, thrusting an extra helmet towards him. Mingyu takes it, his large hands fumbling on the buckle of the straps. 

Wordlessly, Minghao slaps Mingyu's hands away and does the buckle himself, their faces inches apart. It used to not bother Mingyu, but his epiphany just now made their proximity weird.

Weird─as in the butterflies in Mingyu's stomach are fighting to fly up his throat and spill all over Minghao. Mingyu gulps them down.

"There," Minghao says finally. "Well?" Minghao prods him. 

Mingyu scrambles to pick up the food packs and gifts by his feet and rides the motorcycle behind Minghao.

The pair arrives at the orphanage, where the kids are running around and squealing. The staff welcomes them by the door and relieves Mingyu of the bags. They're regular visitors here, so there's no more need for introductions─just warm greetings. Minghao turns back to Mingyu with the brightest smile, pointing at the children doing something cute. Mingyu doesn't even get to have a good look at them because he is suddenly blind for anything but Minghao.

"Come on," Minghao says excitedly, pulling Mingyu by the wrist.

They help the staff set up the little tables and chairs and round up the children. Some kids latch themselves on Minghao's arms, the others on his legs, and another one claims his shoulders, holding tight around his forehead. Minghao, who met Mingyu earlier with his default Resting Bitch Face, is now at the brink of tearing his face in half with the way he's smiling so widely around his little crowd. His giggles float to Mingyu's ears, much louder than the rest. It makes his chest ache.

_How come I never noticed this before?_

Time does pass by quickly when one is having fun. Soon, they are bidding the kids and the staff good-bye. They walk together back to where Minghao parked the motorcycle.

Minghao tosses the extra helmet to Mingyu and secures his own under his chin. "Need help again?" he asks. 

Dumbfounded, Mingyu nods. Minghao cuts the distance between them to take the buckle from Mingyu's trembling fingers and fasten it, tugging on it slightly to test the fit. "Thank you for coming with me," Minghao says quietly, hands firm on Mingyu's shoulders.

"No worries," Mingyu chuckles awkwardly. They share a quiet moment there, just standing face-to-face. Mingyu can feel his lips settling into a serious line, his eyes flitting between Minghao's and studying his beautiful face more closely. They've looked at each other for the past ten years, but it's only now that Mingyu drinks in all the details of his soft hair and eyelashes and nose and little dimples. He grips Minghao's forearms that are still pressed on his chest. "Happy birthday, Minghao," he says sincerely. "I'm glad to see you had fun back there."

Minghao thanks him with a nod, breaking their little moment gently and taking one step back. Mingyu wants to kick himself for missing Minghao already. 

"Let's go?"

_Xu Minghao, a transferee from China, gasped for breath and fought to swim up the wave of foreign words assaulting his ears. His mum had earlier enrolled him in a language school, and he could already understand a huge chunk of the Korean language. However, all the actual, jumbled conversation happening around him made him feel small and cornered._

_Then, a helpful hand extended to him─a hand connected to one Kim Mingyu. He was amongst the thirty Korean kids in the class, but he was the only one patient enough to converse with Minghao slowly, correct his mispronunciations without laughing at him, and accompany him as he adapted to his new life in this new world._

_Ten years ago, Minghao realised that,_ hey, you're in love with your best friend _._

_Even before they graduated high school, Mingyu had already dated two girls. By the time they were sophomores in college, he had had three boyfriends_ and _one more girlfriend._

_"Why haven't you tried dating around, though?" Mingyu asked, and Minghao deflected the question with a (bitter) laugh._

He should stop holding on, really. There's no use pining for someone who will never look at him any differently. It's been ten fucking years, and nothing has changed between them.

That is, until something _does_ change between them.

"You're so beautiful," Mingyu breathes with a dope expression as soon as Minghao takes off his helmet and shakes his mullet hair free. Mingyu's brain-to-mouth filter is notorious for malfunctioning half the time, and he usually reveals his dumbest yet realest thoughts then, so… 

_Oh. This is new._

For the first time in a decade, Minghao feels _seen_. And boy does it feel wonderful to be found under the spotlight of Mingyu's gaze. 

He schools his expression into one of confusion, trying to hide the way he is rendered nonplussed by those three words. 

"Uh, thanks?" he says instead, keeping up with his bemused façade, although he would very much want to yell now.

_Okay_ , he thinks, _maybe I can hope a bit more, hold on for a bit longer. Maybe this time, something will_ really _change. Maybe._

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday, Eisa! ♥
> 
> As always, thank you for reading!


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